On the Season
Straight Up: 20-4
Against the Spread: 9-13

Posted spreads are from sportsbook.com at time of publishing.

Washington St. @ Colorado (Sat., Fox College Sports, 12:30 p.m.)
Hmm, perhaps there’s an anti-champion playoff in progress and no one told us. UCLA advanced over Oregon State last week to play the winner of this game. Or do I have that backwards? Oregon State actually advanced to play this week’s loser. Yeah, that sounds right. Arizona must have a bye to the final round.

Straight Up: Washington State
ATS: Washington State +3

Arizona @ USC (Sat., FSN, 12:30 p.m.)
In eight straight losses to FBS teams, Arizona has been beaten by at least 19 in six of them. Granted, those six games are all against Oregon, Stanford and Oklahoma State, but there’s not even a little bit of fight in there? Something is seriously wrong in Tuscon. So naturally, I’m picking Arizona.

Straight Up: Arizona
ATS: Arizona +12

Washington @ Utah (Sat., FSN, 4:00 p.m.)
When this is the best the Pac-12 schedule has to offer on a weekend featuring 5 games, it’s a down year. It just is. I can’t even argue the merits of the conference this year. There’s nothing to hang the hat on. Go Utes.

Straight Up: Utah
ATS: Washington +9.5

 Oregon State  @ Arizona State (Sat., Fox College Sports, 7:30 p.m.)
I’m recommending some new fall Saturday activities for Beaver fans.

• Just tailgate, bro. To hell with what happens after that. If you have to black out and wake up in a field in Sweet Home, so be it.
• Invite your friends over to watch games, but instead of viewing live action, cue up a game from a year Oregon State beat the current opponent. Celebrate like hell deep into the night, but don’t ask why no one questioned Ken Simonton’s eligibility in 2011.
• Intensely study the habits of bears. Learn their ways until you are confident in your ability to hibernate until August 2012.
• Become a Duck fan (that one’s for the sister-in-law, she’s ripe for the picking).

Straight Up: Arizona State
ATS: Arizona State -18.5

UCLA @ Stanford (Sat., FSN, 7:30 p.m.)
I’d take Stanford at -40 in this game.

Straight Up: Stanford
ATS: Stanford -21.5

On the Season
Straight Up: 16-3
Against the Spread: 6-11

Posted spreads are from sportsbook.com at time of publishing.

UCLA @ Oregon State (Sat., Prime Ticket, 12:30 p.m.)
An early candidate for Pac-12 game of the year, no doubt. Of  course, this is the one where the Beavers win and then immediately rip off a long winning streak and put themselves in the title hunt before losing to Oregon. Or maybe they just lose to UCLA. I don’t know.

Straight Up: Oregon State
ATS: Oregon State -5

California @ Washington (Sat., FSN, 12:30 p.m.)
Normally, the official policy of the blog is to not believe in anything Washington does. However, another strict policy is also at play here, one where if you see Cal playing a road game, you just tighten up into the fetal position and wait for impact. Soooo, the Husk-, Hus- oh God I’m gonna throw up.

Straight Up: Washington
ATS: Washington Pick ‘em

Colorado @ Ohio State (Sat., ABC/ESPN2, 12:30 p.m.)
I still don’t know anything about Colorado, but they do seem to generally play football poorly. Of course, Ohio State is countering with an equally ugly brand of their own.I guess Ohio State wins, but it would not be a surprise to see the upset.

Straight Up: Ohio State
ATS: Colorado +16.5

#10 Oregon  @ Arizona (Sat., ESPN2, 7:15 p.m.)
Who hates playing at Arizona? This guy. And so do you. Well, none of us actually play there. But we do watch and drink as well as anyone and I just know the stomach churns a little harder during games in Tuscon. I think the goals when playing at Wildcat Stadium are these in order:

1. Avoid leg injuries to quarterbacks
2. Avoid head injuries from flying bottles
3. Avoid drunken fans on the field before the game is actually over
4. Win

Straight Up: Oregon
ATS: Oregon -15.5 (not a chance I’d lay money on this)

#23 USC @ Arizona State (Sat., ESPN, 7:15 p.m.)
I’ve believed in ASU since the end of last season and I’m not gonna give up just because of one incompetently played game at Illinois. I should, but I won’t.

Straight Up: Arizona State
ATS: Arizona State -2.5

On the Season
Straight Up: 9-0
Against the Spread: 3-6

Posted spreads are from sportsbook.com at time of publishing.

Colorado St. @ Colorado (Sat., FSN, 10:30 a.m.)
I’ll just go with some Pac-12 pride here and pick Colorado across the board. Buffs, we need to learn more about each other. It’s like I hardly know you.

Straight Up: Colorado
ATS: Colorado -7.5

Texas @ UCLA (Sat., ABC, 12:30 p.m.)
Just looking at this game makes me chuckle. No really, it did. I read the header, Texas @ UCLA, and slightly guffawed. This should be must-see TV and instead, it’s…yikes. Next game, please.

Straight Up: UCLA
ATS: UCLA +3.5

Washington @ Nebraska (Sat., ABC, 12:30 p.m.)
Washington, if you think Nebraska as a 17 point favorite after you beat them in the Holiday Bowl is unjust, I suggest you read up on the Nevada Wolfpack. 2011 ain’t 2010. Good luck.

Straight Up: Nebraska
ATS: Nebraska -17

Missouri State @ #12 Oregon (Sat., OSN, 12:30 p.m.)
Uh, see ya next week, Ducks. I’ll pass on this one.

Straight Up: Oregon
ATS: Oregon (if there was a spread, I’d bet Oregon up to about -70. Of course, I’m the guy that took the Ducks at -50 or so last year against PSU. It was a winning ticket, thank you very much. Ok, yeah, degenerate, I am him).

Presbyterian @ California (Sat., 2:30 p.m.)
Ya know, if Cal was playing this on the road, I’d probably just pick the Blue Hose and I’m not sure I’d be wrong.

Straight Up: California
ATS: California (see Ducks above)

Washington State @ San Diego State (Sat., MTN, 3:30 p.m.)
Ah, what the hell, I’ll jump on your stupid bandwagon, Cougs, and I will most certainly regret it.

Straight Up: Washington State
ATS: Washington State +5.5

Arizona State @ Illinois (Sat., Big Ten Network, 4:00 p.m.)
This is a weird point spread. Even considering it’s Arizona State and a road game, the Sun Devils can’t really be underdogs, can they?

Straight Up: Arizona State
ATS: Arizona State +2

Syracuse @ USC (Sat., FX, 5:00 p.m.)
Vegas always gets a ton of money coming in on USC and other LA-based teams what with the close proximity of the two cities. It’s nice to the know that the Pac-12 is now guaranteeing the Trojans to cover. Duly noted.

Straight Up: USC
ATS: USC -16.5

Utah @ BYU (Sat., ESPN2, 6:15 p.m.)
With Utah getting accepted to the Pac-12 and BYU being left behind, I’m guess the Holy War might end up more like an apocalypse. An apocalypse brought on by angry rivals all hopped up on Root Beer and licorice.

Straight Up: Utah
ATS: Utah +4

#6 Stanford @ Arizona (Sat., ESPN, 7:45 p.m.)
10:45 pm start on the east coast? Check
Potential for 100 points and 1,000 yards passing? Check
Broadcast on low definition Fox Sports Net with Steve Physioc on the play-by-play? Dang, we were so close to a perfect throwback, late 1990s Pac-10 game.

Straight Up: Stanford
ATS: Arizona +9

On the Season
Straight Up: 9-3 (“Wait, Nick, if you didn’t know the season started, how are you 9-3?” I don’t know, one of life’s mysteries, I suppose.)
Against the Spread: N/A for now

Posted spreads are from sportsbook.com at time of publishing.

Arizona @ #9 Oklahoma State (Thu., ESPN, 5:30 p.m.)
I swear, I didn’t see the game and I don’t know the outcome, but I do know this: Arizona’s defense is AWESOME and the Wildcats are totally not going to start the season 1-4 after playing this game followed by Stanford, Oregon and USC.

Pressed for a score, I’d say Arizona won 37-14. Yeah, nailed it.

Straight Up: Arizona
ATS: Arizona

#21 Missouri @ Arizona State (Fri., ESPN, 7:30 p.m.)
Hmm, highly biased, uninformed preseason polls based largely on what happened last year say Missouri is the better team. On the other hand, oddsmakers say the Sun Devils are 8.5 point favorites. Who to trust, who to trust?

Straight Up: Arizona State
ATS: Arizona State -8.5

Nevada @ #13 Oregon (Sat., FX, 12:30 p.m.)
Oddly enough, in the last week, Oregon went from national title contending badass team to weak, overpowered, also-rans. It’s a fickle crowd, these national pundits.

Straight Up: Oregon
ATS: Oregon -26.5

Oregon St. @ 8 Wisconsin (Sat., ESPN, 9:00 a.m.)
One of the Beaver fans in my office this week has been all too happy to tell me about Oregon’s shortcomings as an elite program. He might say, “Wow, Oregon just isn’t good enough to beat the SEC. They aren’t elite.”

Fortunately, I have this cool translation machine and I only hear the actual meaning of spoken words. What he really said was, “Holy shit, we lost to Sacramento State and now we have to play at Wisconsin and what is that that’s pee dribbling down my leg oh god oh god it burns!”

Straight Up: Wisconsin
ATS: Wisconsin -20

California @ Colorado (Sat., 12:30 p.m.)
This conference game that’s not really a conference game is one of many reasons I am starting to really hate realignment. And while I’m on the subject, will someone give me my Twitter feed back? All I get to read about is the latest rumor and speculation on who’s joining what conference next. Please, I beg you, stop. Stop it, stop it, stop it.

Straight Up: California
ATS: California -6.5

#6 Stanford @ Duke (Sat., ESPNU, 12:30 p.m.)
On a side note, I also got Stanford at -1.5 in the halftime Science Bowl. So there’s the predictable “haha, lookie lookie, two smart schools are playing a football game” joke.

Straight Up: Stanford
ATS: Stanford -20.5

Hawaii @ Washington (Sat., 12:30 p.m.)
Here’s the scene last Saturday. Me, your beloved, but MIA blogger, sitting in a Chelan, WA bar already knowing the Beavers have lost now noticing the Huskies about to implode in their own FCS-induced nightmare and I’m just smiling without a care — oh that thing on the TV over there? That’s just this thing they’re doing in Dallas, don’t worry about it. I said, DON’T WORRY ABOUT IT!

Straight Up: Washington
ATS: Hawaii +6

UNLV @  Washington State (Sat., 5:00 p.m.)
Nooooo..no, no, no, no, no. I – and I’d like to think the rest of the free world is with me on this – am not ready for Washington State to be a 14 1/2 point favorite with a backup quarterback in any game even if the opponent would go 0-2 in its own spring game.

Straight Up: Washington State
ATS: UNLV +14.5

Utah @ USC (Sat., Versus, 4:30 p.m.)
Ok, so this is a conference game, right? Because that Colorado-Cal thing above, you know, that’s a non-conference game between conference opponents and this has two conference opponents but one of the  teams used to be in a different conference so I just want to make sure that nobody’s confused here before we play this game because God-forbid we count the wins and losses toward the conference race if it’s really just an exhibition. Know what I mean?

Straight Up: USC
ATS: Utah +8.5

San Jose St. @ UCLA (Sat., 7:00 p.m.)
ME AND RICK NEUHEISEL CANNOT BE THE ONLY ONES WHO CARE ABOUT THIS GAME! Hold up, I don’t actually care about this game. Yeah, coach, I guess it is just you. Fortunately, no level of powdered blue apathy can possibly lead to losing to San Jose State. Right?

Straight Up: UCLA
ATS: UCLA -21

2. Uh, Chip, you have a quarterback controversy whether you like it or not. It doesn’t seem Nate Costa or Darron Thomas were considered at all against Utah and that’s fine. But anytime your quarterback gets three games into a season and still has 0 touchdown passes and seems to be getting worse, let’s face  it, you have to consider the options.

3. I’m trying to think of a better defensive effort by Oregon in recent years. Nothing is coming to mind. Utah started three drives inside Oregon’s 25 yard line and got a total of 10 points from it. Still, I’m really uncomfortable with the concept that the defense is going to win games. This is all too new to me.

4. Good job Morgan Flint. Maybe I just have no confidence in the kicking game, but when he coolly knocked in the field goal  to give Oregon a touchdown lead, I was relieved. Flint is untested in crunch time situations and it was nice to see him put three on the board when it was really needed.

5. I would still like to see a better pass rush. The defensive line is holding it’s own against the run, but despite the stellar overall performance today, in three games, I have yet to feel like Oregon is getting any real pressure on the quarterback. Fortunately, there are few, if any, QBs in the Pac-10 that have proven they can eat you alive if you give them time.

6. The punting units are an adventure. Penalties, touchdowns, blocks, fumbles. Yikes. A little consistency would be nice.

Of course, the stakes may be higher for Oregon which actually has a loss on its record. Another misstep and it’s 1-2 with highly ranked Cal waiting to make it 1-3. Many are comparing it to 1994 (the birth of football) when the team started 1-2 and lost to Utah at home. I don’t see it. Different era, different teams, different scenarios. This game feels critical if you still harbor hopes for the type of season that results in Rose-filled  holidays (whether that should be your expectation or not is another matter). Sure, win or lose, it’s still 0-0 in the Pac-10, but it’s time to make a statement.

Stopping Utah won’t be easy. This is a team that has, in the last five years, proven itself worthy of competing on a bigger stage than the Mountain West Conference usually provides. One could argue for the inclusion of the Utes as a Pac-10 team. After all, like the Pac, they’re an SEC killer (11-8 this decade SEC, deal with the inferiority however you must). They are also tenants of the nation’s longest winning streak at 16 games. Say what you will about Mountain West Conference competition, but it’s at least as good as the Big East and its top three teams are as good as any.

FOTB's Uni Pick

The Ducks could be getting a huge break if Utah running back Matt Asiata can’t go. He’s been listed this week as questionable with a shoulder injury. That usually means out. And for Oregon, that’s a good thing. At 230 lbs., Asiata has already carried the ball 56 times for 250 yards and is the kind of guy that could wear an unheralded defensive line down as the game goes on.

Still, if he can’t play, Oregon has to deal with Terrance Cain. The junior college transfer quarterback has quickly put up big numbers, albeit against, well, terrible competition. He’s the kind of guy that you think Autzen Stadium will eat up, and the next thing you know, he’s torched your secondary for 300 yards.

The stat that sticks out so far, though, is Utah’s five turnovers while taking the ball from opponents just twice. Oregon has been opportunistic this season grabbing six takeaways and scoring on two of them. Is two games enough to declare those stats the definitive decider? Not a chance, but it’s alarming for Utah, especially playing on the road in a venue as difficult as Autzen Stadium.

Ultimately, it comes down to that which we’ve left alone to this point, Oregon’s offense. It usually does with the Ducks. When they’re clicking, winning is a virtual certainty. When they’re not, the results can be ugly. Ed Dickson figures to be a central figure in Oregon’s game plan and you would imagine Masoli will be used in a variety of ways to open up opportunities in the running game while the offensive line finds its identity. Don’t expect the usual Oregon offense yet, but expect enough progress to knock off Utah and set the stage for next week’s Pac-10 opener.

We’ve seen Oregon twice and the results make us nervous. Utah stumbled their way into less-than-spectacular wins over Utah State and San Jose State leaving Ute Nation (is it nation? Do you guys consider yourself a nation?) slightly unimpressed with themselves.

The unnerving events of weeks one and two have dropped expectations for both sides and we’re just trying to grasp what it all means. We’re even saying the same things (from Utah fan site blocku.com):

There was just too much turnover on the offensive side of the ball to justify extremely high expectations. But I’m not sure we expected it to be this bad. Yes, they’re undefeated and hold the nation’s longest winning streak, but it feels like the other shoe is about to drop on the season.

Okay, the whole winning streak/undefeated thing doesn’t apply to Oregon, but don’t you kind of feel the same way?

Still, the results of Saturday are going to leave one group feeling a lot better. The other? Nothing short of Tony Robbins could rehab the collective psyche of the losing fan base.

It’s amazing how quickly moods can change. All it took was two weeks to unravel a mountainous level of confidence. Back and forth trash talk between schools is at an absolute minimum. Boise State, this is not. We’re all so worried about our own problems, who has the time to point out the faults of others?

Sure, Utah is bumbling around (5 turnovers in two games) shooting themselves in the foot, but so is Oregon. And if we try to point out that the Utes struggled with San Jose State, it’s not like the Ducks won anyone over with a two point home win over Purdue. Go ahead and highlight a key injury (RB Matt Asiata) to last year’s Sugar Bowl champions and they’ll point right back at TJ Ward.

Point is, we have two teams that need to prove something to themselves and to their fans. Only one is going to leave Saturday feeling a little more self-assured. The other, well, only Tony Robbins can unleash the power within.

Sept. 3, @ Boise St., 7:15 pm on ESPN

• The Broncos are sorting out their starting linebackers in a competition that involves six players for two spots.
• The preseason hasn’t been kind to Boise’s defensive line and it just got thinner with an injury to freshman DT Greg Grimes. They also recently lost an offensive lineman that was in the mix for a starting spot at guard for the season.
• WR Titus Young will apparently be a handful for the Oregon secondary. Hopefully, the Oregon coaching staff and players did a crash course in “Boise play action 101.” The same article says replacing Ellis Powers won’t be a problem. Two players are vying to replace the departed safety, but no mention is made about the ability of either player to deliver cheap shots to quarterbacks (yeah, I said it).
• In the Broncos lone scrimmage so far, returning quarterback Kellen Moore “looked sharp” and Boise St. managed to slip in two successful trick plays. No doubt, Oregon had better be ready for something, well, unconventional.
• From reading through the many reports, it’s hard to say which unit is faring better, but it does seem like Boise’s passing game is going to be tough to stop.

Sept. 12, Purdue, 7:15 pm on FSN (note: FSN might suck but we don’t have to listen to 4 hours of “Did you know Bob Griese played at Purdue?” this year)

• Only four coaches remain from long-time and now retired coach Joe Tiller’s staff. For a team that struggled in 2008, new blood is probably a good thing.
• New coach Danny Hope is high on his freshman class which makes sense considering it’s his first recruiting effort. Expect to see more than a few freshman on the field in Eugene.
• It’s not on-the-field news, but Purdue adding names to the backs of their jersey’s satisfies one of my biggest pet peeves. Teams that think they’re too good for names have always bugged me. USC, Notre Dame, you get the idea.
• Uh oh. The same article mentions two quarterbacks will play this season. That’s always a kiss of death for your season. The instability probably has a lot to do with the fact potential starter Justin Siller was dismissed for academic reasons in the spring.
• Not  much is expected of the Boilermakers, but from various articles, I get the impression coach Da nny Hope doesn’t care what others are saying. He seems to be bringing a new, fresh attitude and is promoting as much competition as possible. He’s been quoted saying “we can field a very good football team in 2009.”

Sept. 19, Utah, 12:30 pm on ESPN

• The most important position is still up for grabs in Salt Lake. Coming off the heels of its second scrimmage, Utah has two quarterbacks in a dead heat even though true freshman Jordan Wynn was previously named #1 on the depth chart. One thing  is certain – the starter won’t be last year’s backup Corbin Louks who has announced he will transfer to Nevada after getting demoted.
• A redshirt freshman is playing defense for the first time ever and is already listed on the two deep.
• The Utes have suffered a couple season-ending injuries in camp, one to a senior running back, the other to a freshman defensive back.
• Program turnover seems to be a major theme. Both the offensive and defensive coordinators are new, though both were hired from within the program. Three other assistants were hired to replace departed coaches. Additionally, the team has to replace the face of its offense from a season ago, quarterback Brian Johnson as well as two defensive players that were drafted by NFL teams.